Morocco delegation has also studied Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & System and benefits like gas subsidy.

NEW DELHI: Morocco, Africa’s second biggest and second fastest economy and India’s key counter-terror partner in North Africa, is keen to replicate India’s successes in linking Aadhaar to various services for citizens. Morocco recently sent a high-level delegation led by its Interior Minister Noureddine Boutayeb here to study implementation of the Aadhaar-linked services.

Officials told ET that Boutayeb during interactions with MoS Home Khiren Rijiju and other officials lauded the fact that a big democracy like India with a population of over 1.3 billion, with its diverse cultures, languages could implement Aadhaar in India in the shortest possible time.

The visiting Minister had informed his Indian interlocutors that Morocco is also in the process of implementing programmes based on the socio-economic model of India and that his delegation’s primary focus was to learn from the experiences of India’s model of development and socio-economic reforms initiated by the Modi Government, according to officials here. Boutayeb led a composite delegation from various Ministries dealing with ICT and Socio-Economic Programmes and Morocco’s National Bank to India.

Counter-terror partnership and de-radicalisation initiatives were the area of focus for Moroccan Minister. Officials informed that Boutayeb told Rijiju that Morocco is emerging as a key counter-terror and de-radicalization partner for Delhi in North Africa and they will like to share with India their experiences in this field. The two Ministers decided to step up counter-terror partnership.

It is not very well known that Morocco has launched a modernisation program for imams of the region and has a well-equipped intelligence apparatus that shares information with its European partners critical to countering terror.

Rijiju also briefed in detail the Moroccan Minister of various initiatives like the very recently introduced Crime, Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) a mission mode project under the National e-Governance Plan which will help modernize the Police Force and envisages national wide networking enabling share of information between Police Stations, State Officers and Security Agencies.

The MoS Home also briefed how this provides citizen interface to register complaints and to avail citizen services and covers all 35 States and Union Territories in India. Moroccan side expressed interest in details of this Project.

The two sides may work for liberal visa system for each other besides early conclusion of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. Morocco is critical for India’s food security through supply of phosphates and looking to emerge as India’s gateway to European and African markets as a fast growing and diversified economy.